


Anywhere in a Flash part 2 - Japan

by ImaKaraTabiHe



Series: Speedster Family [12]
Category: Justice League - All Media Types, Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Food, Japanese Culture, Running Away, Wally disobeys Barry, World Travel, foreign cultures, omamori, speedsters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-23
Updated: 2016-05-23
Packaged: 2018-06-10 06:48:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6944149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImaKaraTabiHe/pseuds/ImaKaraTabiHe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wally finally slips away from U.S. soil and finds himself in the land of the rising Sun.  This is his adventure in Japan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Anywhere in a Flash part 2 - Japan

“アラ？キッドフラシュでしょ？” (Ara?  Isn’t that Kid Flash?)

“キッドフラシュだよ!”  (It’s Kid Flash!)

“可愛い!”  (Cute!)

“何でここにいるかしら？”  (I wonder what he’s doing here?)

Wally flushed red cheeked beneath his uniform as he walked through the streets of Nagoya, Japan.  ‘I’ve done it,’ he thought to himself with pride.  Japan.  Overseas at last!  His ears detected murmurs of Japanese students and adults as he passed them on the sidewalk.

Was he supposed to be here?  Nope.  No, not at all.  It had been a month since his last cross country run, in which he’d made it to the West coast and stopped on the beach, looking longingly at the ocean with thoughts of the distant lands.

Wally grimaced at the memory of his last “get away”.  His uncle had understood, but Bats had gave him a good talking to about leaving without letting anyone know.  Honestly, he did understand getting a lecture, because it was possible that he could’ve been kidnapped.  Nobody would’ve known.

Robin had given him a weird look beneath his domino mask and had shrugged his shoulder, saying “Well, it had to happen sometime”, which was a bit confusing but whatever.

And now here he was breaking the rules again.  “Rule Breaker Wally!”

Maybe he should just eat all desserts for a meal?  After all since he had come this far…  Why not break another big rule?

Okay, yes, he was being silly.  But he _was_ getting hungry and the delectable smells of fried food in the city were really starting to get to him.  Not to mention the fact that he had run across the ocean.  ‘But where to go?’

Begrudgingly he would have to ask a local.  Wally only hoped his Japanese was still up to standards.

“すみません、たくさんの食べ物はどこで食べれらますか？”  (Excuse me, where can I eat a lot of food?)  A teenage girl looked at him, shocked into silence for a moment before processing his question and smiling brightly.

Never had Wally felt so lucky to be able to understand things at a rapid pace as now.  The girl’s Japanese was much slower with his abilities as a Speedster.  He knew that had he no speed abilities, her speech would’ve been incomprehensible with the rate at which she spoke.

Thankfully he was able to pick apart her sentences and decipher them with little trouble.  She had exclaimed her shock at his ability to speak Japanese and complimented him on his accent before she had finally told him of a place called _Sweets Paradise_ , an all you can eat for 70 minutes dessert restaurant that also served normal food.  She assured him that the normal food there wasn’t as good as the cake and other desserts.  It would only cost him 1500 yen (which was about $15 in USD).

The girl gestured to a building and told him that it was on the third floor.  “そこ？ありがとうございます,  (There?  Thank you,)” Wally thanked her, bowing a little in thanks and he headed off.

Third floor smelled heavenly.  He opened the door to Sweets Paradise and smiled happily.  He tried to ignore the way people ogled him and talked about him with the belief that he couldn’t understand Japanese.

Wally waltzed right up to the machine and purchased a ticket with the yen in he’d withdrawn from a bank that he’d stopped by when he’d first arrived in Japan.  He smiled as coins dropped from the change area.

This was going to be great.

When he finally got settled, he saltered up to the buffet and drooled over all the different cakes, cheesecakes, tarts, tortes, pies, ice creams… There was even a shaved ice machine and a chocolate fountain.  It made him shiver with pure excitement.

He picked up a two plates, setting them on the ledge in front of the buffet, blatantly ignoring the regular food (like spaghetti and salad – meh) that they served and went straight for the dessert.  He piled desserts high on his plates and winked when one little boy stared at him, slack jawed.

Wally sat down at a small table and slowly – painfully slowly – tasted each and every one of the desserts he’d gotten.  The strawberry cheesecake was absolutely amazing.  Everything was amazing.  It made him smile so much and he felt like he might die from pure sugary happiness.

It wasn’t overly sweet like food in the U.S.  It was felt like it was about a half of the sweetness, but it was flavored so perfectly that the lack of his usual sugar intake didn’t mind.  It was perfect.  There were fruits in his cakes, on his cakes, in his pies… It was healthy enough without losing its sweet goodness.

While he could’ve eaten everything there, he made sure to only have ten plates of desserts and three plates of regular… somewhat healthy foods (pizza, spaghetti, curry…)

No point in eating the place out of business for the day.

Wally licked the blueberry syrup from his last bowl of shaved ice.  It was delicious.  And… it was all gone.  He frowned at his empty dishes, stacked on his table.  He eyed the clock.  Half an hour.

He was done in 30 minutes.  He still had 40 minutes to go!  ‘That buffet sure is tempting,’ he thought, eying the desserts.

Shaking himself from thoughts of seconds, or thirds, he returned his empty plates to the dish area and forced himself to leave the temptation behind him.

Back out on the streets, he stretched and licked his lips clean of any sweet cream he’d missed.

_-Beep beep beep-_

If he could’ve seen himself, Wally could’ve laughed at how wide his eyes went when he heard his comm go off.  ‘Oh shit.  Oh crap.  Oh boy,’ he repeated, panicking to himself for a good three seconds before he calmed down enough to click his comm on and answer.

“Hell~o?” he asked warily.

 _“KF?  Why are you in Japan?”_   Robin’s voice sounded over the comm, slightly crackling from the distance.

Wally coughed a little, trying to buy time.  “What?  Why am I where?”

Robin sounded slightly annoyed and amused at his response.  _“In Japan.  Why are you in Japan?”_

“Uhh… Stopping Godzilla,” he answered, sounding unsure of himself.

Robin cackled, _“You sure that’s what you want to tell Flash once he finds out you left the country unattended?”_

“Not a kid, Bird Boy,” Wally huffed.

_“Uh.. You do realize it’s Kid Flash, right?”_

‘Damn.’  Robin definitely had Wally there.

Wally sighed and shook his head in defeat.  “Fine.  I’m Kid Flash – youngest butt kicking Speedster on Earth.  Do I need a babysitter?”  He could tell Robin was about to answer when he interrupted with “Don’t answer that.”

He could see Robin shrugging.  _“When are you planning on coming back?”_

“Maybe tomorrow,” Wally responded, knowing that if Flash did find out, he was going to be in hot water.  God, if _Len_ found out?  “Today.  Soon.  Just – keep them busy,” Wally stammered out, suddenly afraid.

_“I’ll do my best, KF, but if they find out, you’re on your own.”_

“Gee, thanks best buddy,” Wally replied sarcastically.

 _“Bring my back a souvenir!”_   Then the comm call clicked off.  Wally sighed and rolled a shoulder.  He still had a few hours to kill if Robin really did keep them busy.  He always did have the best excuses for Flash, who tended to believe him (Bats never did though… could never pull the wool over his head).

Not quite willing to leave Nagoya, but well aware of his time limit, Wally picked up a map and raced down the country to Kyoto, stopping occasionally to make sure he wasn’t lost.

Wally especially liked stopping at the rest areas where they had toilets and little souvenir shops.  He especially loved the small restaurants and convenience stores on the inside of the complex.  It was interesting to eat a hot dog from a vending machine though.

Finally arriving in Kyoto, he found himself at the Golden Pavilion (Kinkakuji), where he walked around the garden and saw the shimmer of gold from the pavilion in the middle of the pond.

There were a ton of people throughout the garden but when they parted for him, he had no trouble slipping by.  ‘Huh,’ he thought, ‘either I’m extremely popular or they just want to avoid a weird kid in a suit..’  Wally snorted, amused at his own thoughts.

He slipped closer to look in the pond, leaning on the rail a bit.  ‘Holy shit!’  Eyes widening, he stopped his jaw from dropping – only just.  ‘Those koi fish are giant!  Ten bucks they could eat me.’  With a small shiver, he turned his attention back to the crowded path and continued walking through the groups of people.  Tourists.  Everywhere.

“Hey!  Look!  It’s Kid Flash!” a tourist said in English.

“Quick take his picture!” another tourist told the first to speak.

Wally tried not to grimace and ignore the flash of light that was a sure sign someone _had_ taken his picture.  He could only pray it didn’t end up on someone’s blog, or, worse yet, on the _news_.  Uncle Barry and the Rogues would ground him for eternity if they saw it.

He quickened his pace a bit, walking quickly to the exit of the garden, stopping just short at the small store run by miko (priestesses).  “Hmm..”  He eyed the variety of omamori (charms), taking in the vivid colors and the purposes.  There were some for love, longevity, luck, safe travels…

‘Bet Roy could use the omamori for love,’ Wally snickered to himself, thinking of how the gruff exterior of his friend tended to scare potential girlfriends away.

He picked up one of the ones for love and handed it to one of the miko and turned his thoughts to Dick.  ‘And Gotham’s own bird…’  Wally frowned as he looked back at the choices.  Dick tended to have a lot of girls after him in his civilian life.  ‘Guess it comes with being the son of a billionaire..’ Wally reasoned.

Thinking about his friend, Wally winced.  Gotham was far from being the safest city in the U.S., especially for those who had after school activities like Dick.  Without thinking twice about his choice, Wally handed over a purple omamori for longevity.  Combined with being Gotham’s own Robin and being a member of Young Justice, although he hated to think about it, there were always times when his life was in danger.  Hopefully this would help.

By the time he left, he had bought four omamori all together (the third being one for safe travels for his uncle, and the fourth being one for general good luck for his aunt).  It had cost him about 20 USD, but he didn’t feel the least regretful handing over the yen for the four charms.

Time was running out for him.  It was only a matter of time before any distracting Robin was doing to wear off.  Someone was bound to come looking for him sometime (hopefully they’d call first, but with the Flash as an uncle you never knew).

Wally flashed over to Hiroshima, taking a deep breath as he entered the Peace Memorial Park for the atomic bombing.  It made his heart clench as he entered the museum.  He had to force himself not to cry as he saw the burned and mangled tricycle.  It wasn’t hard to imagine what had happened to the owner of that tricycle if the metal was any indication.

It was haunting and even after everything he’d seen, Wally was sure that the images would give him nightmares.  In fact, he was positive that because of what he’d seen, all the people he’d seen hurt, the nightmares would be extremely vivid.

At least an activity which offered origami paper to make cranes to hang at the Children’s Peace Monument made things seem brighter.  Following the belief that a thousand origami cranes could grant a wish, Wally flashed out and returned back to the park with plenty of origami paper and folded one thousand, all by himself.  The glittering eyes of the Japanese people watching him made him feel better as they smiled at him.

An older Japanese man helped him hang the strings of cranes at the Monument, thanking him for everything he did.  It made him blush to hear such gratitude and Wally was quick to tell him that it was his kindness that he was grateful for.

Leaving behind the Peace Memorial Park, he flashed across the country, intent on heading back home.  He was stopped at a rest area shop when something caught his eye and he skidded to a halt, skid marks evident on the pavement.

“No.  Way.”

Wally turned back and flashed over to the window of the small complex, his eyes wide in amazement.  “Oh.  My.  God.”

On display there were little figurines of the Rogues.  No heroes.  Just the Rogues.  Little Captain Cold had an eerily similar arrogant smile and Trickster was grinning like the world was his toy box.  Heatwave was holding a lighter, with his eyes staring at the small plastic flame in awe.  Mirror Master’s figurine was halfway out of a mirror and he looked like he was checking the area.  Captain Boomerang was poised to throw one of his boomerangs with his mouth open, looking like he was ready to yell something.  Pied Piper had his arms crossed and looked like he could be trying to talk Trickster out of pulling a prank.

It was too much to pass up.

“すみません, (Excuse me)” Wally said flashing into the store in front of the clerk, “ ローグズのフィギュアっていくらですか？” (How much are the Rogues’ figurines?)

When the clerk responded, Wally found that the set was actually relatively cheap, although Wally figured that the clerk was giving him a discount.  Handing over the money, he received the bag of Rogue figurines and thanked the clerk profusely.  These would be perfect for the Rogues (and hopefully they’d never find out where and how he attained them).

He stopped at the convenience store to pick up some snacks and tried not to scarf down the heated omuraisu and chocolate and cream filled breads.  They tasted so wonderful and he couldn’t help having to lick his lips clean of any cream that had spilled out.  It was so good that he even bought two more and ate them just as quickly.  He drank a whole liter of water and had a bottle of cold milk tea before he turned towards the coast.

It was time to go home.  Wally stretched his legs briefly and situated the bag of souvenirs just right so that it would be safe during his return trip before he dashed away from the rest area.  As his feet hit the water, he could only hope that no one would find out (besides Robin) or at least punish him too much for this secret trip.

Even if he did get in trouble, he found himself feeling freer than he had in a long time.  He had made his first international venture and he didn’t regret going to Japan at all.  It didn’t settle his desire to travel; in fact, it made him more determined than ever to explore foreign countries.  There was nothing like the reminder that no matter which country, people were just like him (speed or no).  That only served to make the desire to protect burn hotter than ever.  He would protect anyone and everyone he could reach.

He would also make sure to visit Japan again.  Maybe next time he’d go to South Korea.  Wally smiled.  ‘Exploring foreign countries is almost as great as running full speed.’

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure exactly how this turned out. Some of it was based on my own experience and what I knew first and second hand.
> 
> Comments are appreciated!
> 
> PS: omuraisu - an omelet with ketchup fried rice, veggies and chicken (normally) on the inside with a tomato sauce (or different sauce) drizzled on top; omamori - Japanese charms (longevity, safe travels, school work, marriage, romance, against misfortune, digital safety, etc)


End file.
